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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the series will return to Canada.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted later that “they won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh team record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and changing the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his seasonal average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he eventually lost energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Clement drilled a double off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a full count before scoring Varsho with a single to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand early setbacks and answer has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt leadoff man who exited Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon became comfortable.

Former starter Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Final Moments

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 different Toronto players collected hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad cashed nearly every run-scoring chance available in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup even and energy swinging north. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased Snell early in an decisive victory.